Sometimes, headlines for housing can be misleading and this week gave us a terrific example. On Wednesday, the Commerce Department released its Housing Starts data for January 2010. The data showed starts at a 6-month high. The real story is something different.

The Fed Minutes is a follow-up document, delivered 3 weeks after an official FOMC meeting. It’s a companion piece to the post-meeting press release, detailing the debates and discussions that shaped our central bankers’ policy decisions. The Minutes is a terrific look into the Fed’s collective mind and, yesterday, Wall Street didn’t like what it saw.

According to the Census Bureau, 2.8 million people commute to work 90 minutes or more each day, in each direction. Now, your daily commute may not be as long, but time spent in cars, trains and buses is time away from work and from family.

For as much as the foreclosure filing statistics can be astounding — over 300,000 homes were served last month alone — the prevalence of foreclosures depends on where you live.

On the first Friday of every month, the U.S. government releases its Non-Farm Payrolls data from the month prior. The data is more commonly known as “the jobs report” and it swings a big stick on Wall Street. Especially now — many analysts believe job growth is tightly linked to the future of the U.S. economy.

A Pending Home Sale is a home that is under contract to sell, but not yet sold. It’s a figure compiled by an industry group using sales data from over 100 regional listing services and more than 60 large brokerages around the country.

The Federal Open Market Committee ends a scheduled, 2-day meeting today in Washington. It’s the first of 8 scheduled meetings for the policy-setting group in 2010. The group adjourns at 2:15 PM ET. Here is a rate-locking strategy for you.

After posting a 7 percent gain in November, permits rose by another 8 percent in December. It’s a signal that housing is in recovery. More permits mean that builders plan to bring more homes on the market for what’s expected to be a very busy spring home-shopping season.

November 6, 2009, Congress voted to extend and expand the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit program. There’s 100 days left to claim it.

Versus 2008, foreclosures are up 21 percent nationwide and that’s a big number, but a deeper look at RealtyTrac’s annual reports reveals a more positive undertone on the housing market.